Jeffco Mother Gets 1 Year For Providing Teens Drugs

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) – A Jefferson County woman learned her punishment for providing drugs to several teenagers, including her son and his friends.

Jennifer Nikole Runyan was in court on Monday for sentencing after pleading guilty. She will spend a total of 1 year in jail for her crimes.

According to the arrest affidavit, teenagers told police that they did drugs in Runyan’s home hundreds of times.

Runyan not only exposed five teenagers to drugs in her own home, but she did the drugs with them — from marijuana to ecstasy and also methamphetamine. One of the teenagers in the case includes her own son. The other students went to school with him.

Runyan’s father turned her in to police.

“I was just worried about the kids involved, how it would affect their lives, and had something happened to them or my daughter or my grandson,” Runyan’s father Glenn Wiltisie said. “I was worried what would happen if no one did anything.”

The mother of three would use the drugs while her two younger children were home. Documents say she even passed out because she was so high while her younger children were present.

District Attorney Pete Weir says when parents entrust their children to another parent’s home, the hope is that the right thing is being done, not reckless behavior.

“Frankly, who can you trust?” Weir said. “For a parent to intentionally introduce kids, young people, to drugs, it’s just an unspeakable crime.”

Runyan will also have to attend parenting classes and substance abuse treatment. She’s ordered to not have contact with any child that is not her own.